The invention relates to a bottom rail for bridging a joint in a floor with the features a swivel connecting.
Bottom rails are known in the art. They are used to bridge a joint in a floor, e.g., at a transition from a floor covering (e.g., parquet) to another floor covering (e.g., tile), at the transition from one room to another room, or to define the edge of a carpet on a floor. The various floor coverings can exhibit different heights, so that a step must also be bridged on the joint.
A bottom rail is known from DE 37 43 896 C2. The known bottom rail is designed in two parts, with a cover profile strip and a holder for securing it to the floor. The holder of the known bottom rail is also designed as a profile strip, and can be attached in the joint on the floor to be bridged, e.g., with screws or adhesives. The cover profile strip covers edges of the floor coverings adjacent to the joint on either side, sits up on the adjacent floor coverings, and bridges the joint between the floor coverings. The flexible design of the cover profile strip and, if necessary, varying heights of the cover profile strip on both sides of the bottom rail make it possible to cover a step on the joint.
It is the object of the invention is to provide a bottom rail that can be readily adjusted to floor coverings of varying height.
The foregoing object is achieved according to the invention by providing a swivel connection. The bottom rail according to the invention has a hinge, with which the cover profile strip can be swivelled around a swivelling axis running in the longitudinal direction of the bottom rail. The hinge causes the cover profile strip to automatically swivel into a position during assembly in which it sits up on the floor coverings on either side of a joint, even if the floor coverings vary in height. The flexibility of the cover profile strip further improves the ability to adapt the bottom rail.
The bottom rail according to the invention can exhibit a number of individual holders, which are distributed in the longitudinal direction of the bottom rail and secured in the joint in the floor. The bottom rail preferably has a holder that extends continuously in the longitudinal direction of the bottom rail and is designed as a profile strip.
In one embodiment of the invention, the hinge on the bottom rail has a hinge shaft with cylindrical surfaces on sides facing away from each other. The hinge shaft can deviate from the cylindrical shape on the remaining surface sections. The hinge shaft with its cylindrical surfaces sits in a shaped groove, which based on its cross-sectional shape exhibits a back-cut, into which the hinge shaft is pivoted.
To couple the swivelling capability with a height-adjustment capability for the bottom rail, one embodiment of the invention provides for a tongue-and-groove joint between the cover profile strip and the holder. By incorporating the springs to varying depths in the groove, a height for the cover profile strip over a base of the joint in which the bottom rail holder is secured can be set.
In a further development of the invention, there are interruptions in the tongue of the tongue-and-groove joint, into which screws can be tightened. The tightened screws project laterally over the tongue, so that their threads engage the bearers of the groove. In this way, a joint safeguarded against any lifting of the cover profile strip can be created. Despite this fact, the cover profile strip can still be detached from the holder without any destruction after removing the screws. Since the threads of the tightened screws engages both the bears of the groove and the tongue, the screws fix the tongues into the groove at the selected insertion depth. In this way, the tightened screws fix the cover profile strip on the holder at the set height.
Another embodiment of the invention provides for a latching device, e.g., with a catch that engages the gearing from the back, to connect the cover profile strip with the holder. This design enables a rapid attachment of the cover profile strip to the holder by simply pressing in, without the need for a threaded joint.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the bottom rail has a support for the cover profile strip, which supports the cover profile strip in a stable manner when the installed bottom rail is stepped on.
The hinge shaft can be designed as a single piece with the cover profile strip or holder in embodiments of the invention, so that the bottom rail is in two pieces. In this case, the hinge shaft is formed by spherically designing the lateral surface of a web, which is in a single piece with the cover profile strip or the holder. The spherical surfaces of the web lay in the shaped groove of the respective other section of the bottom rail. Another embodiment of the invention has the hinge shaft as a separate part of the bottom rail.